The Kerala Panchayat Raj (Duties to be exercised by the Village Officers) Rules, 1996

1 Short title and commencement—

• (1) These rules may be called the Kerala Panchayat Raj (Duties to be exercised by the Village Officers) Rules, 1996.
• (2) They shall come into force at once.

2. Definitions. — In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires,

• (a)'Act' means the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 (13 of 1994);
• (b)'Panchayat' means a Village Panchayat, Block Panchayat or District Panchayat;
• (c)'President' means the President of a Village Panchayat, Block Panchayat or the District Panchayat, as the case may be;
• (d)'Secretary' means the Secretary of a Village Panchayat, Block Panchayat or District Panchayat, as the case may be;
• (e)Words and expressions used and not defined in these rules but defined in the Act shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the Act.

3. Power to call for information from Village Officers. —

(1) The Secretary may, with the approval of the panchayat, require in writing, the Village Officer of any revenue village in the Panchayat area, to furnish within a specified period,

• (i)the information regarding any property comprised the Village or any part thereof, its survey number, sub-division number, extent and whether it is dry or wet and the owner, holder or occupier, available as per village records; and
• (ii)any other particulars required for the administration of the Panchayat and available from the registers and accounts maintained in the village.

(2) The Village Officer shall furnish the information required by the Secretary under subrule (1) within the specified period and if the information cannot be furnished within a specified time limit, the Secretary shall once again extend the time limit and if the Village Officer is not furnishing the information even within the extended time, the Secretary shall inform the fact in writing to the Taluk Tahsildar concerned who shall take necessary further action in this matter.

* Published in K.G. Ex. No.1137 dt.2nd August 2001, as No, 7885/N1/1999/LSGD.

1. Power of District Panchayat to call for information from Village Officer and to instruct him to perform certain duties. — The Village Officers shall furnish to the District Panchayat through the Tahsildar concerned, the details and accounts required by the Secretary, regarding the schemes to be executed by the District Panchayat as per item 17 of the Schedule V of the Act and shall perform the functions delegated to him for the implementation of such schemes.

    

2. Village Officer to report cases of encroachment. — The Village Officer shall report to the Village Panchayat Secretary concerned full details regarding the encroachment, if any, made by any person, on the land owned by the Panchayat or any other land, property or article vested in the Panchayat and shall render all necessary assistance to evict the encroachers, if so required by the Panchayat.

    

3. Village Officer to attend Panchayat meetings, if required. —
   
   (1) The Village Officer of the revenue village of a Panchayat area shall, if so required by the President in writing, attend the meeting of the Panchayat.
   
   (2) The requisition mentioned in sub-rule (1) shall be made through the Taluk Tahsildar concerned.